16 FOOD AND DRINK
Café review: Black Sheep Coffee By Charlie Ellis CROSSWORD Compiled by David Albury
ACROSS
4 Ruler of a Muslim country (6)
6 Act of entering another country
illegally with an army (8)
9 Music of Jamaican origin (6)
10 Frightened (8)
11 German sausage (11)
15 Tracks where trains run (7)
17 Tell a story (7)
18 The study of circuits in machines
such as computers (11)
22 Not very stable (8)
23 Magic word used by Aladdin to
open the cave (6)
24 Non-commissioned officer,
indicated by three stripes or
chevrons (8)
25 Reached the highest point (6)DOWN
1 Fine linen (6)
2 Blurred, not clear (10)
3 Worker, especially in a manual
capacity (8)
4 Absolute certainty, infallible (4-4)
5 Wooden dwelling, especially in
America (3-5)
7 Image of a god (4)
8 Extremely inquisitive (4)
12 Stiff, not giving way (10)
13 Queue of vehicles for hire (4,4)
14 Frame of piece of furniture used
for sleeping on (8)
16 No matter in what place (8)
19 Followed orders (6)
20 Fruits of certain trees, often
edible (4)
21 Russian ruler (4)
BLACK SHEEP Coffee arrived in
Edinburgh in 2021 and has already
proved popular. Its intention is to
compete directly with established
coffee chains. One thing that puts off
coffee lovers from going into the big
chain cafes is the inconsistency. While
some of the baristas in these places can
produce good coffee, it’s very hit and
miss. But there are other reasons that
people go to chains, including sizable
tables to work at and the long
opening hours.
Black Sheep could plug a gap in the
market, in short, to provide good
quality coffee in large venues which
stay open well into the evening. Last
year they opened two large cafés. One
on North Bridge and one in St. James
Quarter, with a view towards the only
surviving section of the original St.
James Square. Black Sheep intends to
open three more cafés here next year;
two on Princes Street and one on
George Street right next door to
Starbucks so will be in direct
competition.
Will Black Sheep soon start to
overtake the established big chains?In my experience the care and
attention paid by the baristas in Black
Sheep is superior to other chains,
though they don’t reach the same
standards as the better specialty coffee
houses. Black Sheep staff tend to be
better at clearing tables and
maintaining tidiness compared to
other chains. They are certainly part of
a general improvement in the quality
of coffee available in the city. Standards
are still variable but there has been a
general upwards trend, especially in
the last ten years as specialty coffee has
become mainstream.
Black Sheep began as a pop up stall
in Camden in 2013, and their cafés are
now all over London. As they expand,
Black Sheep are having to wrestle with
the issue of growing while maintaining
standards. This is a particular issue
given the general shortage of baristas
in the city. A lot depends on the
quality of training given. There are
parallels with ‘indie chains’ such as 200
Degrees, which has several cafés in the
North of England and the Midlands.
Having visited their café in Lincoln on
a number of occasions, 200 Degreesseems to prove that high quality is
feasible on a large scale, even during
busy times.
As to Black Sheep’s coffee itself I’ve
sampled a number of their medium
piccolos. Though a bit of a
contradiction in terms, the drink is
satisfying for those who find a flat
white just a little bit milky. The coffee
is traditional in character, with clear
Italian characteristics, a distinct
bitterness and full body. Usually this
comes from a portion of Robusta
beans in the blend. Black Sheep uses a
robusta bean from India (Robusta
Revival) which is powerful, with dark
chocolate and hazelnut notes. Robusta
coffee is often considered far inferior
to arabica by coffee specialists but
good quality robusta does exist. Black
Sheep also offers fruitier, more acidic
beans such Blue Volcano, grown in
Colombia. Black Sheep looks likely to
become a prominent part of
Edinburgh’s coffee scene but can it
maintain quality as it spreads?
Black Sheep Coffee
30 St James Square. EH1 3AY
25 North Bridge, EH1 1SBGrowing chain aims to be the best of both worlds
St John’s Curry Club
AT THE ASIAN Restaurant
Awards, St John’s Curry Club won
the award for Scotland’s best
Asian Takeaway/Delivery
establishment jointly with the
Curry Pot Indian Takeaway in
Dunfermline.
Operational Manager, Sadiq
Rahman said: “This is a great
award to win and shows that we
are doing the right thing for our
customers – cooking and
delivering great food to them at
home. The catering industry is
facing so many difficulties at this
moment but rewards like thiswill motivate our team even
more to deliver our food and
service of the highest standards
to our customers.”ANSWERS4 Sultan, 6 Invasion, 9 Reggae, 10 Timorous, 11 Frankfurter, 15 Railway, 17 Narrate, Across:18 Electronics, 22 Unsteady, 23 Sesame, 24 Sergeant, 25 Peaked.1 Damask, 2 Indistinct, 3 Labourer, 4 Sure-fire, 5 Log-cabin, 7 Idol, 8 Nosy, 12 Down:Unyielding, 13 Taxi rank, 14 Bedstead, 16 Wherever, 19 Obeyed, 20 Nuts, 21 Tsar.Plugging the gap
L-R Habibha and Abida front of hour
team members, operational manager,
Sadiq Rahman, Jewel Ahmed and Jahir
Islan Chef Team